1955 Baltimore Orioles season

1955 Baltimore Orioles
Major league affiliations
Location
1955 Information
Owner(s) Jerold Hoffberger, Clarence Miles
General manager(s) Paul Richards
Manager(s) Paul Richards
Local television WMAR-TV/WAAM/WBAL-TV
(Ernie Harwell, Bailey Goss)
Local radio WCBM
(Ernie Harwell, Chuck Thompson, Bailey Goss)
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The 1955 Baltimore Orioles season involved the Orioles finishing 7th in the American League with a record of 57 wins and 97 losses, 39 games behind the AL champion New York Yankees. The team was managed by first-year manager Paul Richards and played their home games at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium.

Contents

Offseason

In the fall of 1954, the Orioles further distanced themselves from their Browns past by making a 17-player trade with the New York Yankees that included most former Browns of note still on the Baltimore roster. Indeed, to this day the Orioles make almost no mention of their past as the Browns. Though the deal did little to improve the short-term competitiveness of the club, it helped establish a fresh identity for the Oriole franchise.

The details of the trade were as follows: Don Larsen, Billy Hunter, Bob Turley, and players to be named later were traded by the Orioles to the New York Yankees for Gene Woodling, Harry Byrd, Jim McDonald, Hal Smith, Gus Triandos, Willy Miranda and players to be named later. The deal was completed on December 1, when the Yankees sent Bill Miller, Kal Segrist, Don Leppert, and Ted Del Guercio (minors) to the Orioles, and the Orioles sent Mike Blyzka, Darrell Johnson, Jim Fridley, and Dick Kryhoski to the Yankees.[1]

Unlike other clubs that transferred in the 1950s, retaining their nickname and a sense of continuity with their past (such as the Brooklyn-Los Angeles Dodgers and New York-San Francisco Giants), the St. Louis Browns were renamed upon their transfer, implicitly distancing themselves at least somewhat from their history.

Other notable transactions

Regular season

Season standings

American League W L Pct. GB
New York Yankees 96 58 .623 --
Cleveland Indians 93 61 .604 3
Chicago White Sox 91 63 .591 5
Boston Red Sox 84 70 .545 12
Detroit Tigers 79 75 .513 17
Kansas City Athletics 63 91 .409 33
Baltimore Orioles 57 97 .370 39
Washington Senators 53 101 .344 43

Notable transactions

Roster

1955 Baltimore Orioles
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
CF Diering, ChuckChuck Diering 137 371 95 .256 3 31

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Woodling, GeneGene Woodling 47 145 32 .221 3 18

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Byrd, HarryHarry Byrd 14 65.1 3 2 4.55 25
Brown, HalHal Brown 15 57 0 4 4.11 26
McDonald, JimJim McDonald 21 51.2 3 5 7.14 20

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Alexander, BobBob Alexander 4 1 0 0 13.50 1

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball
Level Team League Manager
AA San Antonio Missions Texas League Don Heffner
A Wichita Indians Western League Bud Bates
B Fayetteville Highlanders Carolina League Aaron Robinson, Jack McKeon
and Jack Sanford
B York White Roses Piedmont League George Staller
C Pine Bluff Judges/Meridian Millers Cotton States League Bob Knoke and Merrill Smith
C Aberdeen Pheasants Northern League Bill Krueger
C Thetford Mines Mineurs Provincial League Barney Lutz
D Cordele Orioles Georgia-Florida League Lloyd Brown and Max Carey
D Paris Orioles Sooner State League Jimmy Adair

Pine Bluff franchise transferred to Meridian and renamed, June 16, 1955

Notes

  1. ^ Don Larsen page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Bob Chakales page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ a b Billy Cox page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Dave Philley page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Wally Westlake page at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Ed Lopat page at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ http://baseball-almanac.com/asgbox/yr1955as.shtml

References

American League
Baltimore • Boston • Chicago • Cleveland • Detroit • Kansas City • New York • Washington
National League
Formerly the Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Browns · Based in Baltimore, Maryland
Franchise
Ballparks
Culture
Lore
Rivalries
Retired numbers
4 · 5 · 8 · 20 · 22 · 33 · 42
Key personnel
Owner: Peter Angelos · President of Baseball Operations: Vacant · Manager: Buck Showalter
World Series
Championships (3)
1966 · 1970 · 1983
American League
Championships (7)
1944 · 1966 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1979 · 1983
American League East
Championships (8)
1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1973  · 1974 · 1979  · 1983 · 1997
American League Wild Card
(1)
Minor league
affiliates
Norfolk Tides (AAA) · Bowie Baysox (AA) · Frederick Keys (A) · Delmarva Shorebirds (A) · Aberdeen IronBirds (A) · GCL Orioles (Rookie) · DSL Orioles 1 (Rookie)
Broadcasting